Good Night, and Good Luck

Miller

English IIIA

Beginning Tuesday, September 7, 2010, students will view Good Night, and Good Luck(rated PG) in class. Based on a true story, the film shows respected newsman Edward R. Murrow (the “face of television”) and his coworkers struggling to accurately report the stories surrounding Senator Joseph McCarthy and HUAC despite likely significant consequences and reprisals. The film shows how personal beliefs, fears, histories, and morals impact individuals and society. Viewing the film should clarify connections between the Salem Witch Trials and the events of the 1950s spawned by the Red Scare. Although Ms. Miller is a film buff, she never shows a film purely for entertainment. Students must read the four handouts associated with this assignment (delivered August 30, 2010). These handouts should be utilized in completing the assignment. (No Works Cited is necessary, but MLA formatted citations are required as appropriate). The following assignment associated with the film is required and due Monday, September 13, 2010. (This will allow the students several days of work following the completion of the film in class). The responses should be typed in complete sentences using third person, present tense. (Film, like literature, is considered timeless). The amount of points possible should suggest the length and depth of response required.

  1. (3 pts.) What is (are) the filmmaker’s purpose(s)? Defend the response.
  1. (15 pts.) In a minimum of a paragraph, defend (support thoroughly), challenge (both defend and refute), or refute (rebut thoroughly) the following statement: The filmmaker achieves his purpose. (In response to this question, students should address at least twoof the following: script (plot, dialogue, characterization, etc.), acting, direction, art direction (sets, props, costumes, etc.), lighting, photographic composition, editing (pace, rhythm, flow), music, sound effects).
  1. (25 pts.)With The Crucible, Arthur Miller hoped to point out similarities between what he viewed as a travesty of justice in his time and a historical event mocked as ludicrous. Both occurrences involved fear-based behavior. Some fears of Americans in the 1950s are presented in Good Night, and Good Luck. Select a contemporary incident (last fifty years) in which fear caused people to act (whether rationally, irrationally, or both) and discuss it. Explore the reactions (new laws, political disagreements, education, rioting, etc.) to the event and whether or not Americans seem to have learned from the past (specific reference must be made to either the Salem Witch Trials or the Red Scare but other events may also be discussed). Provide support (minimum of two paragraphs).
  1. (7 pts.) Select a memorable scene from The Crucible or Good Night, and Good Luck and discuss why it is significantly memorable. What makes it so?
  1. Bonus: (2 pts.) This film was made in the twenty-first century. Why is it in black-and-white?

Enjoy the movie. Good luck with the assignment.